Day 4: Welcome to Mongolian Churches

We got up earlier today. It's hard, because we don't really know what time it is, it's all still dark outside when we wake. Breakfast is settling into a porridge routine.

Our first trip today was to a Mongolian church, "World Harvest Mission Church". We caught a taxi, which was interesting - UB isn't really massive, so taxis are fairly economical. There are official taxis, but there are also lots of unofficial taxis, or at least that's how it seems. So catching a taxi seems to involve flagging down a vehicle that looks like it might be taxi-like.

We were running a little late, but that turned out to be early! Mongolians don't necessarily run to time, as evidenced by our service starting 23 minutes later than supposed. The whole service was in Mongolian, so we understood very little. Singing was difficult too, though some tunes were very familiar (Lord I lift your name on high, among others). Seumas has a bit of a grasp of the alphabet, and tried to read a bit off the overhead. Visitors and newcomers are warmly welcomed - i.e. we all came up the front and a bunch of stuff was said we didn't understand and then lots of people came and shook our hands and hugged us. Rachel found it a bit confronting to be hugged by men she hadn't met(!) - Gender relations work a bit differently in this culture. It was really lovely though totally bewildering.

We walked home, and it was a bit cold (for us). We stopped into "Home Plaza", a nearby korean supermarket, which had lots of stuff. Even Red Bull. Most of the labels are incomprehensible, but the packaging usually gives you an idea, and sometimes there are some words in English. We bought some noodles, some pasta stuff, shampoo and conditioner, and some chocopie. (No Red Bull).

We were only home for an hour or two. Mongolians don't really do evening church. Afternoon church is the go instead. So we walked up the road to UBTC (the bible school), where an international church meets. It's about 50/50 Mongolians/Foreigners, but the church runs in English. Many Mongolians come to improve their English too. It was a real relief and comfort to be able to understand what was going on, sing in our own language, and hear a sermon on John 13. We met a few foreigners who gave us some good advice (though meeting a Canadian who sounded like he was immune to all cold wasn't the most encouraging!).

Now relaxing at home and preparing for some dinner.

Day 3 - Venturing Outside

After a wonderful nights sleep we felt pretty good and keen to venture out. At 9am David took us on a little walk to the bank to get money. It was about -21C and the breeze was pretty cutting when it blew. We got money no problem but Rachel's hands became numb and then very painful. It took some time in the apartment before they stopped hurting. This was a bit worrying as the Halls told a tale about never being the same again after getting very cold but after a few hours they seemed fine and Wendy found some mittens and glove liners to try.

After a breakfast of porridge and a few hours in the house we set out again (now above -10C we think). Our friend Erdinay (see last post re spelling disclaimers) drove us into the centre of UB and we went to two Christian souvenir stalls and a department store so the Halls could buy gifts for their families. Seumas bought a pair of felt slippers and Rachel got some felt inner soles for her boots. After a late lunch at a western cafe where everyone ate too much (Seumas ate salami!) we walked home.

Rachel was unable to use her hands while out due to them being in the mittens (which are too big) but felt much more comfortable. People had already been praying for her hands so it was great to find something that worked in the better weather. Please keep praying that we will find methods that work in the colder weather... and that will allow her to use her hands rather than having to have everything done for her!

Tired and full we rested for an hour and then it was time for dinner! No-one felt hungry but we had arranged to meet another Pioneers couple at an Indian restaurant so off we went. The food was extremely tasty and we managed to eat it up! But it was great to meet this family who live in the countryside: their two young daughters are lovely kids and have made us promise to come visit if we return to Mongolia!

So a busy day filled with food and discovering how to get around UB.

Tomorrow's plans: two church services and our first trip to the Bible college we'll be teaching at.

Day 2

Yes, we're in Mongolia.

The flight to Beijing was 11hrs, and fairly uneventful. Seumas did some sleeping (his special gift), Rachel not so much. 6hrs in Beijing International (not a very exciting place, but some comfortable chairs), and then a very short flight (1.5hrs) from Beijing to UB. As you fly into Mongolia you see plains and plains of brown turning into plains of white, the remnants of winter.

Mongolian immigration was our only slowing point, as the guard tried to work out whether Seumas' nine-year old passport photo really belonged to him. But all was well, and we came out to meet our host David, who was timely in arriving to meet us. Irdnay (no promises on spelling) was our driver, a young christian guy who does taxi-work and the like.

He introduced us to the wonders of mongolian driving. Cars are either right-hand-drive or left-hand-drive, depending on where they come from. Driving is right-side, as you might expect. traffic lights are, minimal, and everywhere else is a case of muscling your car through. it all seems to work though, but we're not feeling inspired to drive here.

UB has a lot of dirt, meandering tracks and pathways, and the buildings just have kind of blunt facades - you have no sense of the interior. soviet architecture reigns. We passed what looks like the new wrestling palace (=stadium), a ger (mongolian for yurt) stuck up on the second floor of an abandoned building block, and lots of school children walking home.

The Halls have a lovely little apartment, surprisingly warm (for the uninitiated), and we spent our first evening recuperating, enjoying some hot vegetable soup, receiving a lot of information on life here (all good, but it can be hard to remember it all), and a good night's rest.

Day -2

It's two days before we leave for Mongolia. We're hoping to be able to blog regularly while we're over there, giving you updates, some photos, and prayer points. I thought I'd write a preliminary post for those who have subscribed, so you know it's all working fine!

We're not as busy as some people seem to think. We've got most things sorted (money, passports, visas, etc), and really just need to pack! Packing isn't the most fun though, so that's our big task for the next day or so.

We talked on on Sunday night, via Skype, with the couple we're meeting over there and everything sounds in place from their end.

Our flight leaves on Thursday night, we have a few hours in Beijing airport on Friday morning, and should arrive in Mongolia Friday afternoon. Hear from us soon!

January Edition: Getting up to Speed

It's been a busy and crazy month, and we thought we'd bring you up to speed on what we've been up to and a few things you could pray for us.

We had a car accident coming home after Christmas, and that left us without a car for about three weeks. No big dramas with the accident, but being car-less and in the south-west hasn't been the most fun. We still managed to go down to Mollymook with some friends for a week, followed by Seumas leading on a youthworks camp, attending a Gaelic intensive, and teaching at the Latin Summer School. Our car is now returned safe and sound, and decidedly cleaner than we ever kept it.

The latest big news for Rachel is that she has been accepted to study at SMBC this year. She will start a Graduate Diploma in Divinity half-way through the year and finish mid-2011 and is really looking forward to the chance to spend the majority of her time in the Bible. This is dependant on Seumas getting full-time work while she studies so please keep praying about this.

Our Mongolia plans are coming along. We are leaving on the 25th February, and arriving back in Australia on the 25th March. Tickets are booked, visa application is at the embassy, and vaccinations are underway. Everywhere we go we bump into people thinking about Mongolia and it has been great to get tips and encouragement. God works through his people and we have been seeing that in these surprise encounters.

In longer-term news, we have been a little slack at getting on with parts of our application process. Partly this has been because of the busy nature of December/January. Pray that we get a bit of a move on in this department.

We do require some practical assistance at this point: clothes for cold weather! If you have been to Europe in winter or somewhere else cold we would appreciate borrowing items from you. We do need thermals but coats, heavy pants, thick long-sleeved shirts and other layers are proving even harder to find. Rachel is a size 8/10 and Seumas is a small/medium. If you can assist us please let us know!

We hope to organise a prayer night before we leave so we will let you know the details of this shortly. If you can help organise this or have a venue we could use that would be spendid.

Prayer point summary:
- Preparations for Mongolia Trip in Feb
- Diligence in Seumas' studies
- Thanks for God's amazing provisions
- Work for Seumas to free Rachel up to study later in the year

December Edition: Exciting News and Prayerful Dependence

Hello to you all.

We thought it timely to post an update as the year draws to a close, to let you all know our plans for 2010 and beyond.

Seumas' job at Mac Fields is drawing to a close as there are no funds to employ him into 2010. So far he has not secured a position for next year, and that has significantly impacted our plans. In other more positive news, David and Wendy Hall, currently in Mongolia with Pioneers, have invited us over in March to teach their English classes at the bible college there for three weeks while they return to Australia for their daughter's wedding. These two events have dove-tailed nicely, and so here is the current plan:

Rachel is going to keep working through the first half of 2010. She has enough (or near enough) leave to take a month off for Mongolia, so we will go over for a month in late Feb through to March. This will be a great opportunity for us to get a feel for the place (-20 is what we're anticipating temperature wise), the people, the college, and life in Mongolia. We also hope to take a video recorder over and get some footage, so if you have a recorder of some sort that we could borrow, talk to us.

Seumas will spend the first half of the year (apart from Mongolia), studying full-time on his Masters, while looking for work and picking up a few other things (teaching a Moore college evening diploma course, for example). God-willing, by July Seumas will have some steady employment (ministry, fitness, Latin, fish-and-chips?), and Rachel will do a year at SMBC back-to-front. This leaves us with the aim to get to Mongolia more permanently in the second half of 2011.

We will also continue with our application with Pioneers to hopefully be accepted mid next year.

God has been very good to us in providing this opportunity to go across in March at a time when we were feeling very uncertain about what we would do in 2010. This opportunity has provided us with extra energy and anticipation. Please be in prayer for us; that we would be effective in our short time in Mongolia; that Seumas would find employment so Rachel can go to SMBC; and that we would be continually seeking God and his wisdom.

Blessings upon you as we remember the coming of Christ our Saviour.
Much love,
Seumas + Rachel

On the road to Mongolia; figuratively and literally

Hi everyone,

Thanks heaps for your prayers and words of encouragement in response to our letters. It has been humbling seeing people get behind us though it is still early days.

This last week has included some more steps taken towards officially becoming 'applicants' with Pioneers (the mission organisation we would like to partner with).

Last Monday while on holidays in Melbourne we travelled to the national office to talk again with Tamra the mobilisation officer and the national director Simon Longden. They made some excellent suggestions concerning our options for next year and introduced us to some of the people who would be caring for us. Of particular value was talking to the finance staff and getting a ballpark figure for how much monetary support would need to be raised; Rachel was and still is very shocked as that amount is much more than she had expected!

The visit was also a good hurry-up for us to get our applications completed and sent; they have now been emailed and the process has officially begun!

Last night was the Pioneers annual Sydney dinner and it was a great opportunity for us to meet other people currently or previously in our situation. Lots of laughs, advice and cake. We were also fortunate to meet a couple who will be moving to rural Mongolia at the start of next year; amazing to think that the next time we see them will likely be in a different hemisphere!

In non-Pioneers news our holiday also included a stop at Bendigo where Seumas gave a talk at the local Christian student group's weekly meeting, after which we were encouraged to talk about our Mongolia plans. We will probably need to get a bit more prepared for such presentations in the future so we can be clearly about why we're going and what we'd like to do, but it was nice to be asked for future updates and discuss what they might send us in care packages (primarily Weet-Bix).

What's next? Our plans for next year are still in God's hands. Seumas' current position will no longer be funded next year. We had hoped that Rachel would do some theological study, but this is uncertain at the moment. So, at present we are waiting to hear about job opportunities for Seumas and are still not able to make much of a draft timetable but when we have something definite you'll be in the know! This is a particular area that you could be praying for us about.

Please pray that we will keep trusting in God for the future and serve him in the present. This includes serving you so please let us know what we can pray for you and if we can do anything practical as well.

Love,
Seumas and Rachel